Last Sunday I took about a dozen folks from my parish down the road to see St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Kenosha. The priest, Fr. Stephen Hrycyniak, is a wonderful host and was very kind to us.

Generally speaking, it is a beautiful space, although quite small. I would guess it seated about 130 max. The building dates from the late 1920s.

It is a somewhat Americanized space for the Orthodox. They have pews. Their Iconostasis was painted by a local Italian artist a hundred years ago or so. There were a few other things to that effect. One of the things that the Orthodox have which we Lutherans do not as much is the link between cultural, ethnic and spiritual traditions. We certainly have that, but they do to a much greater extent. It kind of shapes how they address change. More on that later.

More importantly, it is quite beautiful and pious, and is (I believe at least) faithful to their tradition and confession of faith. There is little doubt in walking in St. Nicholas that this is a Christian space. It’s not for me/us, but I like it and appreciate their faithfulness.